Franklin finally gets his shot against Lobos

Jamaal Franklin was back at practice Monday, two days after what, at least according to television replays, looked like a badly sprained right ankle from a pileup under the basket late in the 69-67 win against UNLV.

“Taking a day off, that’s not me,” Franklin said.

Enhancing the recuperation is motivation: San Diego State’s next opponent is New Mexico, on Wednesday night in “The Pit.”

It’s the only Mountain West team that Franklin, a sophomore, didn’t play against last season. And the Lobos’ starting wing is sophomore Tony Snell.

Franklin and Snell were teammates and roommates at Westwind Prep in Phoenix for a year after high school, and to this day regularly talk or text. Franklin is averaging 15.7 points and 27 minutes, Snell averages 13.4 points and 27 minutes. Franklin’s Aztecs are 15-2, Snell’s Lobos are 15-2.

Franklin wears No. 21, Snell wears No. 21.

“That’s like my brother from another mother,” said Franklin, named the Mountain West player of the week after hitting the game-winner Saturday. “When you’re away from home and not seeing your family every day, you become really close. We probably talk twice a week now. We hit each other up after big games.”

None bigger, now, than Wednesday night.

Sweet No. 16

SDSU moved up from No. 22 to No. 16 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls. ESPN's Dick Vitale, who votes in the AP poll, had the Aztecs No. 10.

“You beat a team that beat North Carolina and Illinois, and people are going to pay attention,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “Our kids are proud, and they should be.”

UNLV dropped from 12th to 20th in the coaches poll, but only to 14th in the AP media poll – two spots ahead of the team that just beat them. It’s not the first time this season the Aztecs have been dissed like that. They received fewer votes than Arizona and Cal after beating both those teams as well.

The UNLV win also meant that Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis had to put the Aztecs on his AP ballot.

Davis is a notorious Aztecs “hater,” admitting last year he was “not a huge believer in San Diego State” and routinely ranking them considerably lower than most AP voters. So far this season, he had left them off this ballot completely. He responded to critics last week by criticizing SDSU’s “weak” recent schedule (apparently he neglected to notice the seven straight tough games early in the season) and promised to rank them only if they beat UNLV.

Which they did. So Davis put the Aztecs No. 23 … and kept UNLV 12th.

That leaves Norm Wood of the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press as the only of the 60-odd votes to leave SDSU off his ballot this week.

Braced for success

Aztecs point guard Xavier Thames says his right knee continues to improve and put its health at “about 85 percent.” The problem now is less the actual knee than the cumbersome brace that protects it.